Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Review: The Quick and the Undead by Kimberly Raye

Welcome to Tombstone,
Texas, where anything is possible, even your wildest fantasy. Once a
haven to outlaws, Tombstone is now a tourist town that gives travelers a
taste of the old West. What visitors don’t realize, however, is that
the super-hot cowboys, gunslingers, and lawmen walking the streets
aren’t actors—they’re originals. These ancient vampires claimed
Tombstone two centuries ago.

So step right up, folks, and book your trip today! The outlaws of Tombstone will be waiting . . .

Travel
blogger Riley Davenport loves her job, traveling to the most exotic
places in the world. Even better, it keeps her one step ahead of her
stalking ex. The last thing she wants in her life is a strong alpha
male. But that’s exactly what she gets when she comes face-to-face with
Sheriff Boone Jarrett, a hero right out of her most erotic fantasies.

Boone
isn’t just the law in Tombstone, Texas. He’s also an ancient vampire
and the target of a crazed killer. He certainly doesn’t have time for
romance. But a temporary fling? Now that he can handle.

Unfortunately,
their first night together ends in disaster when Riley witnesses a
murder. And to protect her, Boone forces her into hiding. Only her
“captivity” ends up becoming the realization of her wildest, most carnal
fantasies. Still, Riley’s not going to fall for him, at least that’s
what she tells herself.

But as she gets to know him—the man and the vampire—she starts to wonder if she can hold out . . .

Review by Rose Red:

When I requested a book about
vampire cowboys from Netgalley, I was hoping for a fun and quirky read. The
idea behind this book had SO much potential! A group of outlaw vampires that were sired by the same vampire in
the Old West return as a group to reclaim the town of Tombstone, Texas. In
order to make that possible, they've turned the town into an exclusive vacation destination that
will bring back the Old West for travelers. The whole gang is involved in this venture with the exception of
their maker who has disappeared.

This story should have been interesting....but I was bored. I finished the story but I didn't enjoy any of it.
I actually kept reading because I couldn't help but think that it had to get
better because no one could possibly waste such a great premise. Unfortunately, the actual story did
not deliver. I actually thought most of the book
was ridiculous and the "villain" was laughably easy to identify.Believe me when I say that the best part of the whole book was the prologue. It nearly drove me crazy how many times things were repeated over and over and over again. You don’t need to tell me a half a dozen times
that Riley had no childhood because of her father. I got it. Over and
over again, I read about her ex-boyfriend and how horrible and controlling he was. Again, I get it. Why repeat Riley's past over and over again without making it have any real impact on
the present story? And I read about Boone’s
father issues so often that I wanted to slap and tell him
he was a vampire outlaw and to get the hell over it. I nearly went bonkers when we had to be told that a character was a gunslinger/thief/etc every time that character was mentioned. Maybe we needed that in the beginning but not every single time that character was mentioned afterwards.

Part of the reason I think this story didn't work for me was that the book was just too short for what the author was trying to do. There was no room for any good plot or character
development. I was 90% through the story and realized I did not care one bit about any of the characters let alone the "romance". In fact, the story spent more time
focused on Riley's sexual longing than what was probably a very interesting group of vampires. Hello! You made a group of outlaw vampires boring.

As for the romance, it was comprised largely of her hormones and his hunger.But not really much
more. I wasn't really given a romance. When Boone thinks Riley might be in
trouble from a rogue vampire does he keep her next to him to protect her at all times? Nope. He puts her in a cave by herself while he searches for the
villain. She literally spends a large part of the story in a cave by
herself. How can there be a romance when they're separated 75% of the time. There was no build up of any actual feelings other than lust. And that wasn't even done well and was mostly associated with Riley's sweet tooth and Boone's craving for her blood. I honestly didn't get the
love connection between the two of them. Not to mention, the sex scenes were weird to read. It was almost like they were not meant for this book because they were so disconnected from the story.I appreciated the author's attempt
at writing a different vampire book. It was a fresh idea in a stale genre. I just wish it had been done better. I have no interest in continuing on with this series.

I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.